


Of Headstrong and Haughty

by CakeDoctor



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Colony, Humanstuck, Other, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:15:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22881616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CakeDoctor/pseuds/CakeDoctor
Summary: After a war that wipes the land devastates humanity, civilizations are split into the colonies. Not all of these places are treated equally.Eridan Ampora is the rising start of the head town honcho, perfecting each task she has laid out.Sollux Captor is a revolutionary, working to stop the dictatorial leader behind the scenes.Eridan's mission? Kill the rebels.





	Of Headstrong and Haughty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction for the masses.

The rushed pattern of footfall crashes through the normally stilled sound of the forest, plants and fallen branches cracking and snapping under the weight of a human body and the carelessness he's ensuing. Behind him, the panting of dogs, the barks and growls, and the screaming of people as he weaves in and out of trees, and ultimately away from his original goal. Coming into a clearing, he's provided little time of relief. He knows where he is, and he knows that this isn't a good spot to be in. With no choice but to jump, he leaps off of the cliff and into the water blow him  with such force that he doesn't remember touching the icy blackness before he's out.

* * *

"Eridan!" a sing-song, shrill voice greets the ears of a man standing in front of a mirror. Well, less of a man, more of a teen. Eridan Ampora stands with the confidence of thousands in his bedroom, half dressed and with his brown and blond hair acutely unstyled. It falls in waves over his eyes, violet and piercing, as he glances towards the doorway of his room. He's greeted with the smile of his betrothed, and he offers the barest hint of one in turn. 

"Hey, Fef."

"Are you ready for the big day?" she asks, sliding over to him with a package in her arms. It's clearly something that's been dry cleaned, although Eridan mildly wonders where the dry cleaning could possibly have come from. Feferi places the back down onto his bed, nearby where he's standing, and curls arms around Eridan's neck. He smiles wistfully, running a hand through her long, curly hair.

"Well, what's there to be unready for? I've been awaitin' this day for years now. Besides, it ain't often when your military an' government leader need you to perform a task for your colony, now is it?" his smile is cool, nonchalant, but he can't help but to notice the way Feferi's smile doesn't meet her eyes as she nods and pulls away from him.

"Well! I suppose that's true. I would still be nervous, though. Who knows what  _ she  _ is going to send you off to do?"

"You shouldn't speak 'a your mother like that, you know. She's done a good job at takin' care of these folks."

Feferi looks defeated, sighing and nodding for a moment before her head glances towards the bag she had placed down, "Well.. She had wanted me to bring that to you. So! You best get dressed before she gets impatient." and with a smile, she turns and leaves. No I love you's, nothing. Eridan expects this. Rather than dwelling on the lack of affection, he turns to pull out the clothes he's been provided. His operation is on land, however the uniform is much more naval, less tactic, more flashy. A deep violet with golden accents, buttons and chains across the chest. It's beautiful, and practically everything he could have dreamed for. Impractical for the use it's going to experience, but that's another story. Eridan dresses up.

Hair slicked back in a loose fashion and military regalia on, Eridan exits his room to view the rest of the compound. Sickly white and sterile, it lacks decoration in its modern, tasteless boxy style. The entire building is this way, lacking in life. That's just how things are. Why worry about decoration when you have a colony to run? His eyes glance over the employees of the company, townsfolk and personnel alike. The mass of them are dressed in similarly dull clothes. 

He passes people scrubbing the floor, windows being washed, stacks of papers being carried in the arms of workers, and receives  _ looks  _ from nearly every individual he happens by. It's not uncommon. It's never uncommon. People stare when you're special, and Eridan happens to be the most special of them all. He slides into the office, standing straight, standing tall, and is quickly directed towards her office. Walking through the door, he keeps his face pressed into a hard line.

"Ampora." her voice doesn't cease to send chills down his spine, like a predator to prey. Eridan is the juicy hunk of flesh to be grabbed and devoured, and she's the stalking lioness in the weeds. "I assume you're ready for your mission. You know what will happen if you fail me."

Oh God does he know. Eridan has thought over it many times before. Disappointment isn't an option if he wants to keep everything he's worked for, or if he wants to have his family back. He glances his eyes to the shadows of the desk where the woman sits. Making out her features is difficult in the darkened light, but the purple-y maroon is unmistakable to him, and the way her painted lips curl is enough to send another spike down his spine. "I'd never fail you." he replies, voice almost confident. 

"Good."

* * *

Sollux tastes metal. It's a flavor not too uncommon to his pallet, not at this point in time at least. The blood swimming around his mouth along with the salty brine of water is a disgusting combination, and it's with a retching cough that he rolls onto his side, painfully choking out water into the sand as his chest and leg burn in agony. When the fit is over and the sand by his body is effectively covered in a mixture of blood, vomit, and water, he collapses and tries to assess the damage to his body. His hand skims along his thin frame, pressing in different areas. It's hard to conclude exactly the state, given everything hurts, but his legs seem to be in the worst condition. 

Still, unless he wants to die, he can't stay here. He pushes past the pain searing in his chest and leg, rising to a limping stand and falling almost immediately. Still, he needs to get back, and he's going to have to go the slow way. Pushing through, he's able to get to the treeline where he at least has some sort of support for walking. In the day, the forest is more peaceful and nicer. He uses forest, but the location is more like a jungle with tall and wrapping trees. It provides a secure location for his hideout, to protect the other's, but it's still a place that makes his stomach twist and turn with spikes of nerves despite the safety it provides.

He grunts as he moves through the trees, and a normally short trip is brought to an hour. By the time he collapses against the door of the cave, well hidden behind the rushing falls, he's nearly dehydrated and on the brink of passing out. The door whips open, though, and the black haired, damaged man is greeted by the sight of his best friend and cohort. 

"Oh holy fucking shit." the other wraps his arms around Sollux, doing his best to haul him into the location, guiding Sollux to a nearby medical table and forcing him to lay down. For such a tiny guy, he sure does pack a load of strength. 

"Jesus Christ, KK. Since when were you a heavyweight champion?" he muses, voice crude and rough, his lisp still shining through. Looks like falling from his death isn't going to cure that crude malformation any time soon.

"Sollux, while normally I appreciate the funny haha bullshit that spews out of your mouth like your own goddamn saliva, you look like you were hit by a freight train and two seconds away from fucking dying on me. I'd grill you right the fuck now but again, you might keel over so it looks like I'm going to have to take my pressing questions and shove them down until you can cognitively function."

Sollux merely offers a smile, hardly resisting as Karkat pulls off his salt water stained clothing and tosses it aside, doing his best to assess the damage, but really, that's Aradia's typical job. Karkat seems to be panicking, but keeps it under close wraps as his eyebrows knit together. 

"Urgh. I can't fucking do anything without Megido here, you're just going to have to hang tight and not actually swan dive into your grave right now, thanks." Karkat moves out of the room temporarily. He returns with a small jug of water, which he presents to Sollux. He eagerly chugs the liquid until he sputters and needs to settle down. Karkat glances at the door. "She's been looking for you. You should really get around to fixing the goddamn walkie-talkies." The last part is more of a mutter, and he sighs to take the jug away from Sollux. "What happened, any-fucking-ways?"

"Oh, just the typical bullshit. Scouts, or whatever. They were looking in the wrong location again, so that's fucking good, but their dogs probably have my scent nailed into their noises.

"Were you even able to get any information?"

"Not a chance. I didn't even get there before I was being kicked out."

"So much for our mystery informant. I fucking told you it was a god damn ambush. Obviously? We were being played." 

Sollux shakes his head a little bit, "I don't think so. I mean, yeah, sure, waking up with a note taped to the door saying that there was someone interested in seeing us is shady as all ever-living fuck, but I think if they were going to be on the bad side of things they'd be more keen to, I don't know, sending the fucking militia our way? We're not  _ that  _ hidden, all things considered."

"I really don't want to admit that you have a p--"

Karkat is cut off as the door opens, "Karkat, I haven't been able to fin- Sollux!'' The guy on the table is met with a hug and a bushel of hair in his face. He produces a pained gasp, which causes the arms to immediately be let go. "Oh. You look  _ awful. _ " 

"Thanks AA."

"At this point, that's just his normal fucking face." Karkat muses, earning a sharp look from Sollux. Aradia is shucking off her tan jacket, placing it down on the table and moving to the medical equipment that Sollux cooked up. She starts to look him over with it, as he closes his eyes and tries to relax. He ends up falling asleep.

"Karkat, you're going to need to get your brother. He has two broken ribs and his leg is fractured, there isn't much we can do."

"The last fucking thing I need? It's Kankri risking his fucking hide more than he already does. He's an asshole, but I don't want him to die just because he decided to help with this shit."

"He risks himself every day he comes here, every time he tells us anything. It's only some painkillers and enough items to make a cast for his leg. It is a bit impossible to do anything for his ribs aside trying to set them and have him not move a lot.." 

"Look, I see where you're coming from but I don't want what happened to Mituna and our dad to happen to Kankri." Karkat leans against the table, sighing softly and running his hand through his hair. "I can- I can see what I can fucking do, but I'm not making him do shit. Again, a fate with  _ her  _ in charge is worse than death any day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here we are in the thick of it. Lovely shout-out to a nerd for helping me with Karkat's dialogue and fixing it, since I have no idea what I'm doing.
> 
> It's been a genuinely long time since I've written a fanfic, and this is a reboot of something I started and was proud of, but turned into a shipfic and I lost interest. So.. Let's see how this goes and if I end up deleting it. B)


End file.
